Shallow and Profound

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God —1 Corinthians 10:31

Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person— God became a baby.

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all— the ocean has a shore. Even the shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher . . .” (Matthew 10:24).

We are safeguarded by the shallow things of life. We have to live the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desperately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known, is yourself.

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淺與深

所以你們或吃或喝，無論作什麽，都要為榮耀神而行。 （林前十31）

別以為生活上淺顯的事，不是出於神；這些事與深奧的事一樣，同是出於神。你不肯表現膚淺，不是由於你對神的忠誠虔敬，而是你想叫人覺得你並不膚淺；這樣，正好表現了你屬靈的驕傲。若是如此，你就得當心：不要讓鄙視在你心裡成形，使你隨時指控人，因為覺得人人都比你膚淺。當心別以高深莫測自居；神也是成了嬰孩而來的。

膚淺並不是奸惡的表現，也並不表示沒有深度，海洋也有邊岸。生活中表面化的常事，如飲食、行走、談話，都是神所定的。這也是主的生活。作為神的兒子，他也這樣生活，他說：[學生不能高過先生。 ]

我們的保障是在於淺顯的事。我們必須以平常之道過日常平凡的生活。深奧的事，是神在淺近的事以外賜給我們。除了向神，我們不必向任何人顯露深度。我們往往太過專注於自己的品性，以致不肯在日常平凡生活中，活得像基督徒。要下決心除了神，不把任何人放在心內；這樣你會發現第一個要摒棄不管的，就是最會假冒的傢伙 - 你自己。

祈禱◆主啊，願你今天將聖靈的直覺力和你所有的靈感賜給我，以致我可以在一切事情上辨別你。願你恩慈的同在和平安充滿這一整天。